Machine for plugging leather



G. A. SCHICK.

MACHINE FOR PLUGGING LEATHER.

Patenfed Feb. s, 1921.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-1.1919. 1,368,059.

2 SHEHS-SHhEI I.

G. A. SCHICK. MACHINE FOR PLUGGING LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR I, I919. 1,368,059. 1 Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 k1 l I 16 1Q GEORGE A. SCI-110K, 0F CAMDEN, NEVJ JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO FERDINAND KELLER,

JR., OF PHILADELEHIA. "EENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR PLUGGING LEATHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application filed March 1, 1919. Serial No. 280,159.

To all 10]) am it may concern Be it known that I, Gnonen A. .Sonron, a citizen of the United States, residing in Camden, New Jersey, have invented Machines tor Pluggino Leather, of which the following is a specincation.

One object of this invention is to provide a substantial, simple and inexpensive machine for forming plugs of thread or equiv an lent material, in leather or other soles or the like, in order to strengthen or reinforce them, with a view to increasing their usetul life;the invention particularly contemplating a novel combination of parts for forming such reinforcing plugs from a single thread.

It is further desired to provide a ma chine for inserting a single thread in a body of sheet material to form lines of reintorcing plugs having heads at or immediately adjacent one face of said material ;the arrangement and operation of the parts of said machine being such as to require the minimum number ofparts while being compact and or such a nature as will not easily get out of order or require frequent repairs.

I furtherdesire to provide a machine of the above noted type with a novel form of holding awl and stripper whereby itshall be possible to properly manipulate a single 7 thread during its formation into a series of reinforcing plugs or stitches in a body of sheet material.

These objects and other advantageous ends I secure as hereinafter set forth, reter ence being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a. fragmentary sectional perspective of apiece of sheet material showing the reinforcing plugs which my machine is designed to insert;

Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively front and side elevations, the first being partly in section, illustrating the various parts constituting my invention in. the positions occupied at one point in their cycle of operation;

Figs. el5, 67, 8 -9 and 1011 are respectively front and-side elevations similar to Figs. 2 and3, furtherillustrating the operation of my machine;

Fig. 12 is a plan of the parts above the thread plate. showing them in the positions occupied in Fig. 6; and

.upper awl 5;the presser toot being carried on a vertically reciprocable bar 6 whereby it may be raised or lowered at will.

The thread guide 2 is rigidly mounted and remains at all times in the same position, while the awl 5 has an intermittent vertical movement from the extreme upper position shown in Fig. 3 to the extreme lower position shown in Fig. 7. The thread thrower has an oscillatory movement in a vertical plane across the general line of the presser foot and at its lower end is extended at right angles away from the bar 6, as indicated at 7, having a notch or recess 8 (Fig. 1 for receiving a thread 00 running from the eye 9 of the thread guide to the work operated on.

The thread. thrower & is-so mounted and its lateral extension is so shaped that when swung from one extreme position (Fig. 6) to the other (Fig. 2), it engages and draws a portion of the thread 00- in a substantially horizontal line from the thread guiding eye 9. The latter is-formed in an angular linger 10 carried in a substantially horizontal plane at the lower end of a vertical rod 2. A take-up arm 4: is engaged by the thread before it enters the thread guide and is actuated periodically in the usual manner by well known means forming no part of my invention.

The above parts are preferably arranged and operated in the manner described and claimed in the U. S. patent to Rhodes #LlQLOSfil, dated July 11, 1916, and as this clearly illustrates the devices whereby the thread thrower 4, awl 5 and take-up arm are actuated at the proper times, I have not shown them.

Below the thread plate 1 is mounted a vertical shaft 11 periodically oscillated through a definite are by suitable mechanism (not shown) and having clamped to it a block 12 on which a plate 13 is guided so as to be slidable in a line at right anglesto theline or" said shaft. For the purpose of adjusting the position of this plate, I connect to it or 10, and down to the sole. If the various.

provide it with a screw 1 1 on which is threaded a nut 15 abutting said block. Said plate 13 is extended outwardly from the block 12 and has its top edge recessed for the reception of a holding awl 16, being made in two parts clamped together by a screw 17. The latter also holds to the plate 18 a second plate 18 of sheet material carried in a substantially vertical plane including the center line of the shaft 11 and having a thin linger-like prolongation 19 from its upper edge turned at right angles to its body, to constitute a thread stripper. The

opening in the plate 18 for the screw 17 is horizontally elongated 111 order to permitof a slight adjustment of said plate to vary the position of its thread-engaging extension 19.

' .illso operative below and through the thread plate 1 is a vertically reciprocable needle 20, and as shown in Fig. 12, said plate has an opening 21 elongated in a line radial to the presser foot bar 6 in order not only to permit passage of said needle and of the awl 5 but also to allow of a lateral bodily movement of the needle, from a position in line with the upper awl 5 (Fig. 9) to a position parallel with said line but nearer the line of the presser foot bar 6.

' in forming a series of plugs a) in a sole 7, the latter is placed on the thread plate 1 and the presser foot 3 is lowered in the customary manner ;-the single thread at being runfrom the spool or bobbin through the tension mechanism to the take-up arm, thence through the eye 9 of thethread guide parts be assumed to occupy the positions shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the mechanism of the machine will operate to raise the upper awl 5 out of the hole which it has just pierced in the sole 3/, the needle 20 being at the lowest part of its path of movement to one side of the line of said awl. As the latter rises, the needle is laterally shifted into line with the awl (Fig. 9) and it is then raised until its pointed and hooked upper end passes through the hole formed by the awl. As said needle reaches the upper limit of its stroke, the thread throwen 4 swings from the position shown in Figs. 8 and 9 to that shown in Figs. 10 and 11, and its notched extension 7 engages the thread m, forming a sharp angle therein (Fig. 10). The needle 20 is thereupon moved bodily toward the presser foot post 6 out of line with the awl 5, while the thread thrower dwells in its extreme, displaced position, and as the needle is thereafter moved down, its hook catches the substantially horizontal portion of the thread (Figs. 4 and 5), carrying it .down through the sole and thread plate in an elongated loop. As this lowering of the needle occurs, the upper awl likewise moves down and ultimately engages and passes through the sole to form therein another hole spaced a predetermined distance away from that through which the thread has just been drawn.

The oscillatory spindle 11 is now turned on its vertical axis to swing the stripper finger 19 and the holding awl 16 into the thread loop just formed igs. 6 and 7 and the thread thrower or take up 4: retains its original position. Said take-up device then acts to pull back on the thread w which is thereupon drawn taut over the stripper finger 19, while the needle 20 is moved laterally out of engagement with it (Fig. 9) into line with the upper awl15.

' As said needle is raised and finally caused to pass into the hole last formed in the sole, a slight angular movement of the spindle 11 causes the stripper finger 19 to disengage the thread loop, so that as the thread thrower 1 again moves into engagement with the thread, it draws back the greater portion of the previously formed loop, pulling it tight over the holding awl 16 (Figs. 10 and 11). The continued turning of the spindle 11 thereafter draws this awl out of the reduced thread loop, which by the action of the presser foot 3 and the lateral movement of the sole by the needle, is flattened against just formed, (Fig. 3) while the further turning of the spindle 11 moves the stripper 19 and holding awl 16'into the extreme posi tions shown in Figs. 2.to 5 inclusive. The needle continues its upward stroke and then moves laterally into a position in which, as

it is lowered, its'hook again engages the approximately horizontal part of the thread 00 held by'the thread thrower 4, so that it draws a loop of thread throu h the second formed opening in the sole. The operation of the machine thus forms a succession of uniformly spaced plugs, each of which consists of a flattened loo constituting a head and two parallel lengt s extending through the sole to its top surfaceg-adjacent plugs being connected by a single length of-thread on the surface of the sole, in line with and immediately adjacent the similar superficial lengths connecting the other plugs.

In case of wear or when otherwise necessary, the holding awl 16 may be adjusted by turning the screw 15 so that it will project for a greater or less distance into the thread loops, and likewise by loosening the screw 17, the position of the stripper finger 19 may be altered at will.

From the above description it will be noted that my machine utilizes or requires but a single thread in the formation of a succession of closely spaced reinforcing or filling plugs which strengthen rather than weaken the leather or other structure in which they are formed. Obviously by forming the plugs of a single length of thread I materially economize the amount thereof required for a given reinforcement and also am enabled to simplify and reduce the number of the parts of the machine required.

I claim:

1. The combination with the vertically reciprocating awl, thread guide, and needle of a machine of the character described of a holder for temporarily engaging each loop of thread after it has been formed by the needle; a device for taking up the surplus portion of each loop; with a stripper for positively holding the thread while it is being disengaged by the needle and prior to the action of the take-up device.

2. The combination in a machine of the character described or" a hooked needle; means for successively placing portions of a single thread in the path of movement of said needle; a stripper and a loop holding awl mounted to enter each loop of thread as it is formed by said needle; and a device for taking up the surplus of each loop to cause it to close around said awl to form a headed plug.

The combination in a machine of the character described of mechanism "for torming a single thread into a succession of loops within a body of sheet material; a

stripper and a loop holding and mounted to be introduced into each of the loops after its formation; and a device for pulling the thread of each loop tight around the awl to form a head adjacent one face of said sheet material.

l. The combination in a machine of the character described ofmechanism including a needle for forming a single thread into a series of loops within a body of sheet material; an oscillatory member; a stripper formed to temporarily hold each loop; a loop holding and carried by said member in position to enter each loop after it has been formed by the needle; with mechanism for taking up the loop held by the stripper and closing it around said awl to form a head.

5. The combination with the vertically reciprocable and and the hooked needle of a machine of the character described, oi'- a member mounted to oscillate in a plane at right angles to the line of movement of said needle having two spaced portions positioned so that both of said spaced portions enter each loop of a single thread drawn out by the needle; and mechanism for taking up the surplus of each loop to close it around one of said portions to form a head adjacent one face of the sheet material operated on.

In witness whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE A. SOHICK. 

